Karachi [Pakistan], May 31 (ANI): Negligence on the part of citizens, subpar performance by municipal bodies, and an unregulated parallel trade in animal offal left substantial portions of Karachi buried under piles of debris and blanketed by a pungent stench throughout the three days of Eid-ul-Adha.
The situation has severely worsened the sanitation crisis in the metropolis, which is already struggling under the weight of long-standing cleanliness issues.
While the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board (SSWMB) carried out offal removal tasks along major traffic routes and prominent localities across the three festive days, the agency proved highly ineffective in clearing numerous residential pockets.
According to reports from Dawn, several neighbourhoods across Karachi remained trapped in layers of putrid waste well after the conclusion of Eid, with severe odours polluting the atmosphere from Wednesday morning to Friday night amid concerns that the unhygienic conditions would continue.
The prevailing intense heat and high humidity levels accelerated the decomposition process, causing fat from the decaying offal to liquefy and spill across streets and pathways.
This made it virtually impossible for local residents to seek refuge even inside their houses due to the sickening stench and hazardous environmental conditions typical of the country’s collapsing urban infrastructure.
Mounting public anger over the situation triggered sharp political condemnation of the municipal administration’s failure to handle the post-sacrifice clean-up.
Dawn reported that Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) chief Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman launched a scathing attack on the Pakistan Peoples Party-led provincial administration, slamming what he termed “a dangerous combination of corruption and incompetence” within the region.
He pointed out that locals were being compelled to pay separate private fees for basic rubbish removal services despite the SSWMB possessing a massive budget of PKR 43 billion.
The JI leader made these remarks after inspecting a communal sacrifice point set up by his party and the Alkhidmat Foundation at Jamia Masjid Quba in Gulberg, Federal B Area.
He stated that the state’s logistical plans for managing sacrificial remains were “extremely slow and inadequate”, while highlighting that towns managed by the JI had to orchestrate their own sanitation and disposal drives on a self-reliant basis to provide relief to residents abandoned by official channels during the holidays.
Concurrently, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) issued a highly critical statement from its Bahadurabad base, asserting that the population of Karachi had been left to face immense hardships due to the breakdown of basic sanitary measures.
The party noted that the regional administration and its associated civic wings had completely failed in their duty to execute an efficient strategy for collecting animal remains and maintaining public hygiene during Eid-ul-Adha, leaving link roads, inner alleys, and neighbourhoods choking on toxic pollution and foul smells.
An MQM-P representative further detailed the extent of the administrative failure, noting that “Animal waste is still lying unattended in several areas, including Landhi, Korangi, Malir, Shah Faisal Colony, Old City Area, Baldia, Keamari, Orangi, Liaquatabad, Federal B Area, North Nazimabad, North Karachi and Surjani Town, while the sanitation system has become paralysed.”
In stark contrast to the reality on the ground, Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab toured various sectors of the city during the festive period to assess the clean-up and subsequently voiced complete satisfaction with the ongoing response, telling municipal teams to keep up the momentum.
A formal briefing released on Friday quoted the mayor as claiming that, “Due to the effective local government system in the city, elected representatives and municipal leadership are actively playing their role in their respective areas.”
Defending the state’s heavily criticised performance, the mayor added, “I stayed on the streets alongside SSWMB teams until the operation of lifting offal was fully completed. This year, the staff of the SSWMB has performed exceptionally well, and the overall situation in the city remained completely under control.”
A parallel report published by Dawn outlined that the mayor, alongside SSWMB Managing Director Tariq Ali Nizamani, toured all administrative zones to oversee waste clearance, extending their supervision into the four-day Eid rituals of the Bohra community.
The state body asserted that its supervisors directly managed the transport of refuse from residential collection nodes to main dump yards while conducting chemical spraying, lime application and anti-mosquito fumigation.
Data released by the SSWMB claimed that an aggregate of more than 142,816 tonnes of animal remains and domestic garbage was processed at landfill points and deep trenches located at the Sharafi GTS during the post-Eid drive.
The breakdown reportedly comprised 64,122 tonnes of animal offal alongside 78,694 tonnes of secondary carcass parts and general rubbish.
According to Dawn, the municipal board stated that, “A total of nine trenches were prepared at landfill sites and Sharafi GTS for the disposal of offal, while 99 collection points were established across the city for waste collection.”
The agency additionally claimed that principal boulevards were sprayed with aromatic rose water to suppress lingering odours, alongside continuous efforts involving disinfectant dusting, lime scattering and smoke fumigation across the city. (ANI)
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